Manufacturing tooling is used to hold and maneuver objects during manufacturing processes. A wide variety of manufacturing tooling exists for use in a variety of industries. Manufacturing tooling can be general, that is, applied to a class or type of object, or application specific.
During the manufacture of certain large hollow structures, for example, large aircraft fuselage sections, a variety of manufacturing tools are required to hold and maneuver the structures during manufacturing and inspection. Some manufacturing tools can externally support a large hollow structure. However, these manufacturing tools do not permit certain inspection and manufacturing processes to be conveniently performed. For example, during the assembly of large composite airplane fuselage, it may be desirable to perform nondestructive inspection around the entire external circumference of a continuous, unspliced, one-piece fuselage section. Some types of nondestructive inspection require that the surface of the fuselage be unobstructed during the inspection; thus, the inspection cannot be performed while a fuselage section is held by an external support. As another example, painting processes often require that a large structure exterior surface be free from obstructions.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that internally supports a large hollow structure, such as a large airplane fuselage section, and is capable of rotating and transporting the large hollow structure.